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A REPLY 



6EN. JOSEPH REED'S REMAR 



ON A LATE PUBLICATION IN TBE 




INDEPENDENT GAZETTEER:? . ^ 



WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON HIS 



ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



BY GENERAL JOHN CADWALADER. 



WITH THE LETTERS OF 




>Gen. Gt'orgc Washington, Gen. Alexander Hamilton, Major David Lennox,; 
Ur. Binjamiu Rush, Gen. P. Dickinson, Gen. Henry Laurens and others, i 



PHILADELPHIA : 

raiMTED AND SOLD BY T. BRADFORD, 

Id Front Street, the fourth Door below the Cofibe-House. 

MDCOLXXXIII. 




iif 



A KEPLY 



^ i\' - ^H 



GENERAL JOSEPH KEED^S EEMAEKS 

ON k LATE PUBLICATION IN TDB 

INDEPENDENT GAZETTEER : 

friTH SOME OBSESTATIONS ON HIS 

ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA, 






^i. 



BRARY 



PHILADELPHIA : 

PRINTED AND SOLD BT T. BRADFORD, 

In Front Street, the fourth Door below the Cofiree'EouK' 

MDCOLXXXIII. 



2.Mn5 



^v 



H 



INTRODUCTION TO THIS REPUBLICATION. 



A FEW years since, a writer, over the signature of " Valley 
Forge," published in an evening paper of Philadelphia, called the 
'^ Evening Journal,^^ and put forth certain statements connected 
with our revolutionary history, which caused a great excitement, 
and led to a challenge of an interview with the author, by the de- 
scendants of a person, whose character was considered as involved 
in doubt, as to his being a patriot of 1776. The party challenged 
failed to attend the proposed meeting, and this pamphlet will give a 
clue to the whole writings of " Valley Forge," and justify com- 
pletely the course pursued by the editor of the " Evening Jour' 
nal,^' who is not now of this world, and of course a matter imma- 
terial perhaps to his friends and relatives. 

The letters of Major Lennox and P. Dickinson refer to a person 
whose name is not mentioned, who was included in the application 
to Count Donop for a protection. There certainly must be in the 
possession of some of the descendants of revolutionary families, 
evidence to show who this person was ; and it may yet be pro- 
duced, to do justice to the memory of" the men who figured in those 
times. 

Trenton, December 26th, 1846. 



TO THE PUBLIC 



When an appeal is made to the public by a person who has interested 
himself in the aflairs of America from the beginning of the present revo- 
lution, he iias a claim to their attention, with respect to transactions that 
reflect either upon his political conduct or principles as a patriot. 

I wish, most sincerely, that all prejudices in tavor or against General 
Reed or myself, may be laid aside on the present occasion, and that truth 
and justice may influence the determination of the public. 

The world is now in possession of General Reed's address to me, re- 
lating to a conversation I had with him at Bristol in the winter of 1776, 
and as it contains the grossest reflections upon my character, as a man 
of veracity and a patriot, it is incumbent on me to reply. 

Mankind have been much the same, in every age, with respect to their 
conduct in political life. Their mmds have been inflamed by the same 
passions, prejudices and resentments, and parties have been supported by 
complaints and representations, which naturally grow into invective and 
personal abuse. 

From these principh's, General Reed has deduced those arguments 
and conclusions, which he vainly affects to think will justify him in as- 
serting, that my conduct has been influenced by motives of hatred, re- 
sentment, and disappointed ambition. But wh^n it shall appear, from the 
testimony I have inserted in the following sheets, that the conversation al- 
laded to was spoken of by me in confidence, at a time when he asserts that 
all former personal dislike was removed, and that " we united in confidence 
and danger at the battle of Monmouth ;" at a time, too, when he admits, 
that " no party or prejudices e.visted, (at least as to him,") the premises 
from which lie has drawn his conckisions must be removed, and conse- 
quently his arguments fall with*them. 

If my bare affirmative against his negative was the only foundation on 
which the public were to found their judgment, our several characters, 
in the article of veracity, would be fairly weighed by candour, and a ver- 
dict given in favor of the preponderating scale. If, then, 1 had hazarded 
an assertion, without other (the most respectable) testimony to support 
it, the consciousness of my own integrity would have suppressed any fears 
with respect to the public opinion. 

The many and hasty movements of my family during the present con- 
test, have displaced several valuable papers relating to roperty as well 
as military affairs. I do not, however, despair of yet finding important 
ones relating to this matter, that may some time hence be published. 
But what need is there of more than I sliall here adduce ; since every 
prejudiced mind must feel (if not acknowledge) the testimony too re- 
spectable and powerful to admit of apology or reply. Testimony, to». 



•btainetl, (in many instances,) from pereoiis to whom 1 ain scarcely 
tnown, — persons residing in other states, who cannot be supposed to be 
the particular enemies of General Reed, or in any way connected with 
the politics of Pennsylvania. 

Many other certificates, supporting and confirming those I shall here 
offer to the public are omitted, as it is thoug-ht tliey will swell the publi- 
cation to an unnecessary size ; and affidavits may, if required, be obtained 
to all the certificates which appear in this pamphlet. 



Ab the publication signed 'Brutu?,' addressed to Genera] Reed, con- 
taining certain queries, is referred to, it is thought necessary to reprint it. 

To the Printer of the Independent Gazetteer. 

Sir, — It is much to the honor of America, that in the present revolu- 
tion, there have not been many instances of defection among officers of 
rank in the Continental army. In Oliver Cromwell's time, we fre- 
quently tee a general fighting one day for the King, another for the Par- 
liament; so unstable and wavering were the opinion of those republicans. 

The corruption of the times is now become a universal complaint, and 
one would be almost tempted to believe, that the former days were better 
than these ; that our forefathers were possessed of greater moral rectitude 
than the present generation, did not history and experience convince us 
of the contrary. There is, however, one great evil peculiar to this age, 
— that of assuming the credit of being endowed with virtues to which 
we are perfect strangers. Cunning address and eloquence have often 
misled the honest but too credulous multitude, and they have been taught 
to consider many a man as a patriot and a hero, whose real character 
was marked with nothing but deceit and treachery to his country. It is 
also amazing, that such men should meet with the highest success, and 
bear their blushing honors thick upon them, whilst modest merit and true 
patriotism could neither gain the suffrages of the people, nor the appro- 
bation of those who held tlie reins of government. 

The reflections I am now making have, in a striking manner, been 
verified in this state. I should be extrem'ely sorry to accuse without a 
just foundation, or to adduce a charge, were I not convinced that it is of 
the utmost importance that the public, — the people at large, — should be 
enabled to form a right opinion of such men, who have been honored, or 
may be honored with their suffrages, and thereby exalted to places of the 
highest trust and confidence. 

Impressed with this idea, and with a design to elucidate such charac- 
ters, 1 shall take the liberty to propose to the public the following queries : 

1. Was not General R— d, in December, 1776, (then A 1 G 1 

of the Continental army,) sent by General Washington to the command- 
ing officer at Bristol, with orders relative to a general attack intended to 
be made on the enemy's post at Trenton, and those below, on the 25th, 
at night ? 

2. Two or three days before the intended attack, did not General R — d 
•ay, in conversation with the said commanding officer at his quartern, 



that our affairs looked very desperate, and tliat we were ouly making^ a 
eacrifice of ourselves ? 

3. Did he not also say, that the time of General Howe's proclamation, 
offermg; pardon and protection to persons who should come in before the 
1st of January, 1777, was ncjirly expired, and that Galloway, the Aliens, 
and other-s had Gfone over, and availed themselves of the pardon and pro- 
tection offered by the said proclamation ? 

4. Did not he, General R — d, at the same time say, that he had a 
family, and oiijrht (o take care of them ; and that he did not understand 
Ibliowing' the wretched remains of a broken army ? 

5. Did he not likewise say to the said commanding officer, that his 
brother, (then a colonel or lieutenant-colonel of militia,) was at Burling- 
ton with his liimily, and tliat he had advised him to remain there, and if 
the enemy took possession of the town, to take a protection and swear 
allegiance 1 

It is well for America, that very few general officers have rea- 
soned in this manner; if they had. General Howe would have made an 
easy conquest of the United States. And it is very obvious, that officers 
of high rank, with such sentiments, can have no just pretensions to pa- 
triotism or public virtue, and can by no means be worthy of any post of 
honor or place of trust, where the liberties and interest of the people are 
immediately concerned. BRUTUS. 

Philadelphia, September 3, 1782. 



TO GENERAL JOSEPH REED. 

In the first part of your late publication, which is no less an invective 
against me, than it is a defence of yourself, you have, with sufficient art, 
insisted on my remarkably contentious, factious,* and jealous spirit, which 
suffers no man, undisturbed, to enjoy his well-earned fame; a circum- 
stance in my character you expected to derive considerable benefit from 
in the controversy between us. For this point being once gained, every 
suggestion, every article of charge against you, which has its foundation 
and support in me, would naturally be referred to those fierce and mn- 
lignant passions you have so unsparingly bestowed on me, and no longer 
rest upon the sreneral credit and reputation I trust I have acquired and 
maintained. But as I cannot, without injustice? to myself, make this con- 
cession to you, I must declare my general t^^nor of conduct to have been 
far otherwise, — that in my private life I have been at peace and harmony 
with all mankind ; and in my public, at enmity only with such public 
men as have disgraced their country by their vices or injured it by their 
crimes. 

• Here the fiillowinc; anecdote will afford an occasion of recriminating. 
When Mr. Reed was proposed as a Brigadier in the army, Mr. John Adams, 
now our minister in Holland, openly objected, in Congn'ess, to his appoist* 
menf, cayinp; ho was of a fictious ppirit, and had been notoriously inBtrumental 
in fomenting; dijcords between the troops of the different Statei. 



8 

Wherein until the present, except in a single instance, have I drawn 
the public attention, by attacks upon the character of any man ; and that 
instance, an impostor, like yourself, who had got into a seat of honor. 
In this, it was virtue to become his accuser. 

If you rely upon your instance, as affording a proof of my eagerness 
for controversy, it will not answer your purpose. I have not brought you 
to the public bar ; for, whatever was the amount of your offences, I nei- 
ther urged nor wished a public inquiry; another has brought you there, 
and I appear only as a witness agaijist you, challenged and defied by 
' yourself 

This being premised, I shall enter upon my subject, and reply to such 
parts of your pamphlet as respect me, and therefore specially concern me 
to notice. 

Your remarks, you say, are with propriety addressed to me ; because, 
though not the actual author, if is to me you are really indebted for the 
insidious attempt on your reputation. 

That the public may have the most authentic proofs of the manner in 
which I have been involved in this controversy, I think it necessary here 
to insert the original letters that passed in the course of our correspond- 
ence, last fall, on this subject. 

Sir, — 1 have, for a long time, trelited the anonymous abuse which dis- 
graces our public papers with the contempt it deserves. But in Oswald's 
paper, of last Saturday, are a set of queries, signed Brutus, in which the 
author, not daring to make an open assertion, has insinuated, that in 1776 
I meditated a desertion to the enemy. Though my soul rises with indig- 
nation at the infamous slander, [ should treat it with scorn, if it did not 
eeem to deserve some credit from a reference to you. Prejudiced, as I 
know you are, I should be sorry to suppose you capable of propagating 
such a sentiment, or decline the opportunity of doing justice to my cha- 
racter and in some degree your own. And this for two reasons ; first, 
the gross falsehood of the insinuation ; and, secondly, to preserve a con- 
sistency in your own character, which must suffer from your placing such 
confidence in me, with respect to the military operations of that period, 
and permitting General Washmgton to do the same, after such a conver- 
ealion as these queries suppose. I need make no apology, in this case, 
for requesting an immediate answer, — and am, sir. 

Your obedient humble servant. 
Market Street, Sept. 9, 1782. JOSEPH REED. 

Gen. Cadwalader. 

Sir, — In answer to your letter, which I received last evening by Mr. 
Ingersoll, relating to queries published in Mr. Oswald's paper of last 
Saturday, signed Brutus, I can assure you, (as I did Mr. Ingersoll,) that 
I am not the author of that publication ; nor have I published one single 
word, since I came from Maryland, relating to the politics of this state ; 
yet my character has, unprovoked, been traduced by you, or some of your 
friends. But, sir, I have repeatedly mentioned the substance of those 
queries to individuals immediately afler the conversation alluded to hap- 
p«ne<l ; and eince that time in nnany mixed companies. As charges of 



the same nature had some time since been made against you, to which 
you never made a reply, the world very justly concluded they were true ; 
especially as the rank and character ot the person who made the charge 
(at that time) merited your UDtice. From this circumstance, it occa- 
sionea an additional surprise, that you should, in this instance, undertake 
to invcstioutc tiie matter, and declare in your letter to me, that the " in- 
sinuation" was " a gross talsphood." I therefore now assert, that in a 
conversation with you at the time and place mentioned in the above pub- 
lication, signed Brutus, tliMt you expressed the substance, and I think 
the very words, contained in the queries. If my character tor veracity 
wanted credit vvith the world, one or two otlicr gentlemen could be 
named, who at nearly the same time, heard expressions from you, which 
created in thein sentnnents unfavorable to your character. You seem to 
insinuate that tliere is an inconsistency in my conduct, because I after- 
wards reposed a confidence in yuu, and because I permitted General 
Washington to do tlie same. It would have been very dangerous, at that 
critical period, to have exposed your weakness and timidity to the militia, 
as such an example might iiave been attended with the most fatal conse- 
quences to our cause. And as your conduct,' upon this occasion, appeared 
to me to ])rocecd from want of fortitude, and not the baser motives, — and 
as from the observations I made to you at the time ; you seemed to resume 
fliorc spirited scnlimfuts in conversation, as well as from political mo- 
tives, 1 continued to show an appearance of confidence, and concluded it 
best nut to mention it to the General. The successes that soon followed 
gave a liappy turn to our affairs, and thus you, (with many or hers,) ap- 
peared to possess firnmess in prosperity, who had shown a want of it in 
times of innninent danjrer. 

!•■ vour conduct in civil life had been such as could have been approved 
of, former transactions might have been buried in oblivion. Eut when I 
see a man endeavoring to mjure the reputation of those, whose principles 
and conduct, from the begimung of tlie contest, have been uniformly ex- 
erted to oljtuiu those ends intended by the revolution ; and when he denies 
all merit to those who are not equally violent with himself, it is difficult 
to bo silent. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

Philadelphia, Wlh Sept. 178-2. JOHN CADWALADER. 

General Reed. 

Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1782. 
Sir, — After waiting some time, .'md being just about to set ofl" for 
Rucks, I received your letter of this morning, and am at a loss which to 
admire most, the depravity of your heart, or tlie weakness of your under- 
standing. Your quoting General Arnold's testimony to vindicate your 
own falsphoo<l is pf^rtcctly consistent. You shall hear further from me 
on my return from Bucks. In the mean time, I have made inquiry of 
Messrs. T. Smith and Shippen, whom you mentioned to Mr. Ingersoil as 
hearing from you senliments similar to those in the queries, with a view 
of communicating them to me ; which they never did, because they deny 
the lea t rccelkction ol'nnv uch information : which m\.vA have been too 



10 

striking to them, and interesting to me, to have passed unnoticed. Your 
talent for invention is also displayed on this occasion most probahly. 

Whatever you may suppose, several of my friends well know, that I 
have been anxious to trace some loose reports that I had heard, which 
your residence in Maryland, and the improbability of your saying such 
things, had induced me to neglect. 

As to your insinuation of my writing against yon in the newspapers, 
or its being done with my privity, it is equally groundless with all the 
rest. I have not wrote in the newspapers for a long time, nor at any 
time in my life respecting you. 

I am, sir, your very humble servant, 

General Cadwalader. JOSEPH REED. 

To General Reed. 

Sir, — I shall make no reply, at this time, to the expressions contained 
in your letter of the 10th inst. ; but as you mfbrm me that you are on the 
point of setting off for Bucks, I do not think it incumbent on me to re- 
main here until you return, especially as I informed Mr. Ingersoll, that 
I intended leaving town as soon as the dust was laid, and wished you to 
take your measures as soon as possible, as I should make my arrange- 
ments accordingly. Some of my servants are gone, and I have every 
thing packed up ; it will, therefore, be very inconvenient to detain my 
family, as you do not mention when you purpose returning. As you say 
I shall hear from you on your return from Bucks, I must inform you, that 
the post leaves this city for the Eastern Shore every Wednesday, at three 
o'clock ; be pleased to direct to me, in Kent County, Maryland, to be left 
at Stewart's. You shall have ray answer by the return of the post, or if 
necessary, I shall attend in person for further investigation. 
I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

Philadelphia, 12th Sept. 1782. JOHN CADWALADER. 

Sir, — Mr. Clymer delivered me your letter of the 12th instant. Y'our 
sudden departure from this city was indeed unexpected, — your declara- 
tion to Mr. Ingersoll not implying it to be so very soon ;* and I should 

* When Mr. Ingersoll waited on me with General Reed's first letter, 9th of 
September last, I mentioned to him the situation of my family, and the neces- 
sity of my leaving the city. This has been candidly related by Mr. Ingersoll 
to Mr. Reed, as appears by the following extract from his letter, in answer to mine 
on the 7th of March, on this subject. 

Extract from Mr. IngerBoirs letter, dated Philadelphia, 8th March, 1783. 
"The conversation that passed, I reported with candour, and I believe with 
precision, l)ut still supposed, that the reply from General Reed would be founded 
entirely upon your answer. Your declaration, with respect to your intention 
of leaving town, I think I can repeat in nearly the words in which you express- 
ed yourself. 

" After discoursing upon the subject of the letter I had put into your hands, 
you mentioned to mc that your furniture was packed up to go to Maryland "- 



% 



11 

have supposed that my letter of the lOtli, would have some weight to pro- 
tract your journey. Before I received yours of tlie 10th, I had prepared a 
small publication, which the receipt of your letter did not influence me to 
alter or delay ; as no signature could Ghanire the nature of things, and 
make falsehood truth, or truth falsehood. Having there declared the in- 
sinuation in Oswald's paper of the 7th instant to be false, I now apply the 
same epithet to your avowal of them ; and am sorry, though not surprised, 
that your violence of temper should have occasioned such a deviation Irom 
the line of veracity so essential to the character of a gentleman. 

I am already possessed of sundry authentic documents ; a few days will 
complete them, — not to show my innocence, — the improbability of your 
charge, and inconsistency of your own conduct, making that unnecessary; 
but to show to what lengths a rancorous heart, puffed up by sudden and 
accidental wealth, can push a man of weak judgment and ungovernable 
passions. 

I need not give you my address, though I think it incumbent on me to y 
assure you, that if by investigation you mean a personal interview, I will gf^^ 
endeavor to make it as convenient as possible, and will shorten the dis- ^W \^. 
tance between us. *• '' "^ 

I am, sir, your obedient humble servant, • . 

Philadelphia, Q^d Sept. 1782. JOSEPH REED. * 

General Cadwalader. r-w^ 

Maryland, 30</i September, 1782, ' ^ 

Sir, — I received yours of the 23d inst. by the post. From the style of >_^ v_| 
your first lettej, (9th Sept.) in which you required an «' immediate an- TT^-- "^ 

swer," I fully expected an immediate interview. As you declined the >"* 
interview I proposed through Mr. IngersoU, and left town the next morn- 
ing, witiinut saying when you proposed returning, and having determined 
not to " alter or delay" the " small publication," which you " had prepared 
belbre tbe receipt of my first letter," — 1 am at a loss to know what could 
have occasioned your surprise at my departure, before your return from 
Bucks. After having promised to the public the most satisfactory proofs, 
that no such conversation as alluded to m the queries ever passed, it was 
reasonable to allow you some time to prepare your " authentic documents." 
Your last letter (23d Sept.) informs that they were not then completed. 
And could you reasonably expect, that I should have remained in town 
till this is completed ! or could you suppose I would suffer your publica- 
tion, worked up, as it no doubt will be, with all the cunning and misre- 
presentation you are master of, to pass unanswered ! As you have pro- 
tracted this affair by your engagement to the public, I shall not put it in the 
power of accident to deprive mc of the op|X)rtunity of laying the facts I 
am possessed of open to public view. The question will then be, whether 
what I have avowed is true ? My wealth, judgment, or passions can have 

that you had been waiting; for r&in to lay the dust and that if anything was to 
come of this business, it must be xpeediltj. 

" I r.xDEAvouii to give the loords used, — I certainly do not deviate from the 
purport of what was said." 

This \i not the least of the many misrrjirescutatiouf: in which Mr. Reed in 
convicted in the course ot mv reply. 



12 

BO influence, either way, with impartial men. My own character, tlie 
character of others concerned, and all tlie circumstances combined, will 
determine the judgment of the public. Tiiis business being ended, an in- 
terview may reasonably be expected. 

I ara, sir, your humble servant, 
Gen. Reed, Philadelphia. JOHN CADWALADER. 

Having for several years given over every expectation of seeing those 
changes made in the constitution of Pennsylvania, which i have ever 
thought necessary to secure that happiness and liberty intended by the re- 
volution, I retired, and have never since even expressed my sentiments 
concerning the politics of this state, except among my particular friends. 
Your vexatious administration hath furnished an example, to what a dan- 
gerous length the autl:ority of government may be carried under such a 
constitution. 

The particular circumstances of my family made it necessary to spend 
a few months in this city, last summer, without an intention of taking up 
my residence here till the conclusion of the war; and though I never in- 
terfered in politics here, except among my particular friends, I was at- 
tacked, in the public papers, by a party blindly devoted to you and your 
measures ; I made no reply, from a confidence that such intimations could 
not injure me with those whose good opinion 1 regarded. But whether a 
friend published the piece signed Brutus, in the mere spirit of retaliation, 
or whether it was calculated for political purposes, at the last election, let 
the author determine. The conversation, alluded to in the queries, was 
known to many long before that period ; among whom were some of your 
friends, in proof of which I offer Mr. Pryor's certificate.* 

Having mentioned the conversation puhlicly, those who heard it were 
certain!}' at liberty to make what use of it they saw proper. 

Being entrusted with the command of the militia and a New England 
brigade, which lay at Bristol in December, 1776, I had permission from 
the Commander-in-chief to make an attack on the enemy, whenever I 
thought it could bo done witii success ; I was prepared on the evening of 
the '22(1 December, to attempt the enemy's post, above the Black Horse, 
with seven hundred men ; and about nine or ten o'clock P. M. I received a 
letter from the General, requesting, if the cnti^rprise was not too far ad- 
vanced, to lay it aside, as he intended a general attack on the enemy's 
posts in a fc.w days. From this circumstance, it appears, that the General 
gave me the information relating to the intended attack, the evening be- 

* Beinj,' called upon by General CaJwalader to recollect the conversation we 
had at the Coffee-House, in the fall of the year fceventy-cight, when he related 
what had passed between him and Mr. Reed at Bristol, I remember the subject 
corroborates with those queries I have since seen published in Mr. Oswald's pa- 
per, of the 7th September, 1782. I likewise renieinbei giving him a hint, that 
some of Mr. Reed's friends were present, on which he repeated what he bad re- 
lated before, and then addressed himself to the gentlemen, and informed them, if 
any of Mr. Reed's friends were present, they were at liberty to make what use 
Jhey pleased of it. TJl6.M.\S PKYOIl. 

Phnadeljihia, March 8. 17S3. 



13 

fore, you received his letter of tiie 23d December, in which tlie precise time 
was tixed. As he knew my intention to command the party myself, and 
therefore 1 might not be at Bristol the next day, this will account for his 
letter of the 23d being directed to you. But here you mean to convey an 
idea, that a preference in this communication was intended to you, thoug-li 
he had given me, in eifect, the same information the evening before. This, 
too, you adduce a:^a proof of the General's " unbounded confidence in yon," 
and you say you were sent by General Washington for the " express pur- 
pose of assisting me ;" and " whatever my abilities were, that i had less 
experience of actual service than you had, — that you were received with 
cool civility, and very few marks of private attention ;" though von ac- 
knowledge that I, at the same time, consulted you without reserve on oiir 
military affairs." I will admit, that your opportunities of acquiring expe- 
rience were greater than mine; and considering the extensive command 
I then had, (which was in number nearly equal to the force under the im- 
mediate command of General VV'ashington,) I should have thought it no 
reflection on my abilities; nor would it have hurt my feelings, if an ofiicer 
of superior abilities and rank had been sent to take^^the command, — or oven 
an inferior officer to assist me. But whether your appointment was of 
thp mere motion of the commander-in-chief, or at your instance, (for assist- 
ing me or other purjwses,) may at least become a question. 

That I received you " with cool civility, and very few marks of private 
attention," I do not remember ; but to give what you mean to convey its 
fall force, I will not hesitate to acknowledge it in its fullest extent: as 
you have granted, that I consulted " without reserve on our military at- 
fairs." In this instance, tiie world will do me justice, as it appears that I 
did not suffer personal dislike to interfere with public duty. 

Though the world have little to do with the causes of private animosities, 
I shall think myself perfectly excusable, here to say a 'tew words on this 
subject, as you have assigned causes for the interruption of our intimacy 
different from the true ones, and with a view of creating prejudices against 
me. 

I acknowledge that such intimacy subsisted between us in early life, 
and you malignantly date its " dissolution" at the time of my sudden acces- 
sion of fortune as owing thereto. Jf I were to admit, that you could properly 
date this breach from tiie moment you mention ; I flatter myself, you would 
find it very difficult to persuade those who know me, to believe that to be 
the true cause. But this v/as really not the fact. The unworthy measures 
you took to evade the payment, (till compelled by a judgment of the court,) 
of Mr. Porter's order on you in favor of my brother and myself, which you 
had accepted, (to be paid out of a bond assigned by said Porter to you in 
trust,) was the true motive of that dissolution you complain of. If you 
turn to the records of the court, or review the correspondence with my 
brother on that subject, you must blusli at such a subterfuge. From that 
time, and owing thereto, I avoided your company. I could here make the 
proper reflections, with respect to your veracity and integrity, but the 
world will do you justice. 

The critical situation of our affairs, in the winter of 1776, is well known 
to every inhabitant of the United States; but those only who were at that 



14 

time in the field, can have a true idea of the circumstances which often 
threatened the dissolution of the militia. My situation gave me better 
opportunities of knowing- the feelino-s and temper of both officers and pri- 
vates, tlian any other person ; and the happy expedients used on several 
occasions, to prevent tiieir going home in a body, are well known to many 
officers whom J then had tlie honor to command. 

The first intimation we had of the capture of General Lee, was received 
by a flag which arrived at my quarters. ■ To determine whether this was 
a misfortune, or an advantage to the cause of America, is at this time im- 
material. It was then, however, generally thought a matter of great mag- 
nitude, in the British as well as in the American camp. The effect it had 
on our army is well remembered by those who were present, but particu- 
larly on the militia. 

That men attached to a cause upon principle, should persevere in a pros- 
perous situation of afikirs, is not uncommon We were at that time sepa- 
rated from our enemies only by a river, which we expected every day 
n)ight be passable on the ice, — greatly inferior in number and discipline, 
and almost destitute of every thing necessary even for defence. Add to 
this, a proclamation of General Howe, offering pardon and protection to 
those who should submit and swear allegiance before the first of January, 
1777, and this time nearly expired. I say, under such circumstances, it 
would be wonderful indeed, if no officer of the army sunk under the appre- 
hension of those dangers tl.at threatened him. That there were more than 
yourself, I well know, whose expressions discovered a timidity unworthy 
an officer and a patriot, who notwithstanding, from the well-timed and 
spirited remonstrances of their friends, were induced to assume a firmer 
tone of behaviour, and have since rendered their country considerate 
services. 

Having fully stated the temper of men's minds at this alarming period, 
and the situation of public affairs, I shall now recite the conversation and 
circumstances relating thereto, which I have avowed in my letter to you 
of the 10th September, as having passed between us at Bristol. 

I had occasion to speak with you a few days before the intended attack 
■on the 26th December, 1776, and requested you to retire with me to a pri- 
vate room at ray quarters ; the business related to intelligence ; a gene- 
ral conversation, however, soon took place, concerning the state of public 
affairs ; and after running over a number of topics, — in an agony of mind, 
and despair strongly expressed in your countenance and tone of voice, you 
spoke your apprehensions concerning the event of the contest, — that our 
affairs looked very desperate, and we were only making a sacrifice of our- 
selves; tliat the time of General Howe's offering pardon and protection to 
persons who should come in before the first .Tanuary, 1777, was nearly ex- 
pired ; and that Galloway, the Aliens, and others, had gone over, and 
availed themselves of that pardon and protection, offered by the said pro- 
clamation ; that you had a family, and ought to take care of them, and that 
you did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of a 
broken army ; that your brother (then a colonel or lieutenant-colonel of 
militia, — but you say of the live month's men, which is not material,) was 
then at Burlington, with his family ; and that you had advised him to re- 
main there, and if the enemy took possession of the town, to take a pro- 



16 

loctiun and swear allegiance ; and in so doing lie would be perfectly jus- 
tiOabli,'. 

This was the substance, and I think nearly the very words; but that 
"you did not uvderstund/nllowing the wretched remains (or remnants^ 
of a broken army,'" 1 pi-Tleclly remember to be the very words you ex- 
pressed. 

That our situation was criticn], and the dangers that threatened «s 
great, were universally acknowledged; but I was astonished to hear such 
expressions from the Adjutant-General of the army, as your conduct had 
been approved by report ; for your good behaviour was not personally 
known to me. Judging trom appearances, and from all circumstances at 
tlie time, I imputed these sentiments solely to timidity ; and, therefore, to 
rouse your feelings, and give new vigor to a mind weakened by fear, 1 re- 
called to your memory your former public professions and conduct, and en- 
deavoured to paint, in the strongest liolourj;, the fatal consequences that 
would ensue from such an example, particularly to tlie militia ; that if otB- 
ccrs, (more especially one in your station,) discovered a want of firmness, 
we could not reasonably expect private soldiers to remain in the field ; and 
added, that as I was commanding officer there, 1 should not pass over such 
expressions in future ; appearing to be invigorated liy these remonstrances, 
your subsequent conversation induced me to hope from you a more honor- 
able resolution. The immediate turn in our affairs confirmed this hope. 
I had besides, at the moment, a still stronger dissunsive. I foresaw that 
an '• arrest," or discovery, on my part, would produce all the bad effects 
naturally to be apprehended from actual desertion ; I mean with respect 
to the discouragement wliirli such an example would have caused in the 
army, but particularly in the miliiia ; and especially, as at that time the 
militia were assembling at Philadelphia, under General Putnam, from 
every part of the country, influenced by the example of the city troops, as 
well as by a sense of danger and duty. If, tiicn, the city militia had dis- 
banded, no person can hesitate to determine what would have been the 
fate of those from the country. 

The reasons of my concealing it from the General were, that nothing 
but an arrest, on his part, could have prevented the execution of this plan 
of desertion, and the bad consequences ensuing from it, the betraying of se- 
crets ; and such arrest would have wrought the other ill consequences I 
have spoken of. In this dilemma, I used a discretion which 1 considered 
most advantageous to my country ; anrl trusted to my hopes, that so impor- 
tant an event, as your defection, would not happen, and thus avoid the 
immediate and certain evil. And besides, I have, in every stage of the 
war, shown a disposition to overlook political weaknesses, conceiving that 
every man we could retain in the service an acquisition, tending to draw 
forth the whole strength and abilities of my country against the common 
enemy. 

That the conversation alluded to is a new tale, devised in the malig- 
nancy of party, has been asserted by you ; and on this assertion is founded 
many of your strongest conclusions in favor of your own innocence. But 
what must the world think of your eflrontery, when they read the follow- 
ing letter of Col. Alexander Hamilton, who was then Aid-dc-Cnmp to the 
''omniandcr-in-chicf, and n<.>u a delegate in C'oii!rrc.'>s; whose conduct and 



16 

clmracter are well known and approved by the citizens of every state ill 
tlie Union, — a i^entleman who, being- a resident of the State of iVew York, 
cannot be snpposed in any manner concerned in the politics of Pennsyl- 
vania. / 

PhiJaihlphia, Uth March, 1783. 

Dear Sir, — Though disagreeable to appear in any manner in a personal 
dispute ; yet I cannot, in justice 1o you, refuse to comply with the request 
contained in your note. 1 have delayed answering it, to endeavour W-te- 
collect, with more precision, the time, place and circumstances of the con- 
versation, to which you allude. I cannot, however, remember with cer- 
tainty more than this ; that some time in the campaign of seventy-seven, 
at head-quarters in this state, you mentioned to me and some other gentle- 
men of General Washington's family, in a confidential way, that at some 
period in seventy-six, I think after the American army crossed the Dela- 
ware in its retreat, Mr. Reed had spoken to you in terms of great despon- 
dency respecting American affairs, and had intimated, that he thought it 
time for gentlemen to take caie of themselves, and that it was unwise any 
longer to follow the fortunes of a ruined cause, or something of a similar 
import. It runs in my mind, that the expressions you declared to have 
been made use of by Mr. Reed were, that he thought he ought no longer to 
•' risque his lile and fortune with the shattered remains of a broken army :" 
but it is the part of candour to observe, tiiat I am not able to distinguisii with 
certainty, whether the recollection I have of these words arises from the 
strong impression made by your declaration at the time, or from having 
heard them more than once repeated within a year past. 

I am, dear sir, with great esteem, your obedient servant. 

To General Cadwalader. A. HAMILTON. 

At the time I communicated the contents of Colonel Hamilton's certifi- 
cate to him, in confidence, it appears by your own acknowledgment, that* 
*' no party or prejudices existed, (at least as to you,") — " the intercourse 
arising from these mingled duties and services, which were continued 
until the army went into winter quarters, at the Valley Forge, soon did 
away the coolness which had for some years subsisted, and in no small 
degree revived our former habits of friendship ;" — " but it was our lot to 
meet again, a tew days before the battle of Monmouth ; here we were again 
united in confidence and danger. After the battle, we left the army to- 
gether, and that period closed our friendly intercourse for f!vcr." From 
these, (your expressions,) you affect to believe, and wish the world to 
think, that our former friendship was restored. It was not so; I cannot 
call it friendship. The transaction I have mentioned occasioned the disso- 
lution of that intimacy, contracted in early life, which but little accorded 
with my notion of perfect integrity. F'rom that time, and owing solely to 
that cause, 1 took the resolufion to avoid your company, as a private gen- 
tleman, and which I constantly adhered to. Meeting in the army, where 
we served most of the time in the character of volunteers, I did not think 
it right to suffer former dislikes to interrupt the duties and services re- 
quired of us by the commander-in-chief, so necessary for mutual and gene- 

' Sec Gen. Kecci's Address to Uic PuMic, pagi-M 24, '.^5, 



17 

ral aafely. If, then, my dislike to you did not proceed from such uiolives 
as sometimes induce men to seek for opportunities of gratifying their re- 
sentments, for what purpose could I have invented such a " tale ?'' or if my 
resentment was such as you represent, why did 1 not gratify it by making 
it public immediately 1 at that time, my mind could not have been " in- 
flamed by party ;" bocause you admit, that no parties then existed,' ("at 
least as to you ;") nor could my ambition have been disappointed, — because, 
b^ng commanding officer of tlie b*eniisylvania Militia, (the council of safe- 
ty, who then held the powers of government,) could not gratily me further. 
I could not have " mistaken a conversation with some other person," be- 
cause there was not that " distance of tmie," which you suppose, nor can 
it be conceived by the most credulous to be '• sonr.e jocular expression ;" 
because the situation of atlUirs rather suppressed than excited in you, the 
appearance of mirth. Having mentioned this conversation long before 
parties were termed here, it must appear to every impartial person, that 
it could not have been the mere invention of my own " brain," suggested 
in the spirit of party ; and it is still more absurd to suppose, that 1 could 
have foreseen that you, who tiien thought as I did concerning the essential 
objections !o the constitution of Penn.^ylvania, should refuse the appoint- 
ment of Chief Justice, because you could not, in conscience, Uike the oath 
of office; that Mr. Wharton, (the first President,) should die; and yet that 
you should allerwards accept the chair of government. It is, however, 
incontestibly proved, that the conversation alluded to was spoken of by me 
at an early period, and long before your appointment to the cliair of go- 
vernment; and yet you say, " the prosecution of General Arnold, I have 
no doubt, gave rise to it." If I was to leave it to your ingenuity to explain 
to the world my motives for inventing such a " tale," to what purposes 
could you possil'ly impute my design .' It could not be to gratify my re- 
sentment for the injury you attempted upon my property ; because I did 
not then make it public ; it could not be occasioned by any personal of- 
fence taken in 1777, (when 1 privately mentioned it to Colonel Hamilton,) 
because you contend that our " former habits of friendship" were revived, 
and acknowledge, that 1 never made it public Icr several years afterwards. 
Hero, then, tlie man of humanity may a?k me, why did you, at .so late a 
date, publicly mention a circumstance injurious to General Reed's repu- 
tation, as Adjutant General of the army and a patriot, which alter-services 
ought to have consigned to oblivion ! The question is a natural one, and I 
will give it an answer. The first occasion of my mentioning this matter 
publicly was this; soon after our return to the city, in the year 177c<, 
among the victims selected for public e.xamples, there was a young gen- 
tleman, with whom I had tiirmed an intimacy in early life. I considered 
him, as he was by many, (and his acquittal justified the opinion,) as un- 
justly persecuted ; but General Reed, who had resumed his original pio- 
I'es-sion, voluntarily aided the prosecution, and with all the force of decla- 
mation, labored to inflame his judges and jury against him. It was then, 
recollecting how near he once appeared to the commission of the same of- 
fence which he charged upon the other, or at leatt to a defection from the 
cause, that my indignation broke out at the trial, saying to those around 
me, that " it argued the extremity of effrontery and baseness, in one 
man to pursue another to drath, for fakinr o step tchich Lis own foot had 
3 



19 

hfttn nnvc raised to take /"* Tliia was anterior to his elevation to the 
Presidency, and whilst hi? powers of doing niisciiief, were he so inclined,, 
were circumscribed by the narrowness of his s^phere of action ; at ench a 
time, could I think his loss of tame so essential to the public good, or, if he 
will, to the purposes of party, as to be willing to attempt it, at the expense 
of my private veracity, my honor and conscience. 

The inconsistency of such ostensible conduct, and the baseness of a me- 
ditated defection, is not irreconcilable to those who have had opportunities 
of knowing that he is not incapable of such vast extremes ; who have seen 
him at the bar of the assembly he himself disqualified by non-compliance 
with the test laws, as since fully appears by a publication signed Sidney, 
unblushingly attempt to set aside the famous Chester election, upon the 
suggestion of its having been carried by electors disqualified from the like 
circumstance.' 

It is thus I would have answered the question, why I have mentioned 
publicly your meditated defection, and 1 trust that such provocation merit- 
ed those reflections which might otherwise have remained in my own 
breast. 

The objection to the force of my single testimony thus obviated, did no 
other offer to corroborcit^- it, I should not hesitate to submit it, under such 
circumstances, to the judgment of the public, resting their determination 
upon the credit of mv veracity against yours. Having supported an un- 
blemished character, I dare defy any person to produce an instance where 
I have even been suspected of an untruth, or of a base or dishonorable ac- 
tion. Conscious of the truth of what I have asserted, I have no fears that 
my conduct will ever "dishonor me with the wiee and virtuous." 

The reasons I have assigned for the dissolution of our intimacy antece- 
dent to the war, will affiird a belter proof of your ingenuity than your in- 
tegrity ; and further, (with respect to your veracity,) if any other instance 
is necessary, let me add one which happened at camp, (at head-(juarters,) 
in the year 1777, soon after the battle of Germantown, wlien in my hear- 
inrr, and in the presence of three officers of the first rank in the army, you 
was charged to your face with a falsehood, and which was i'ully proved 
the next d.iy, by the geut'ral officer who made the charge. 

And now, before I introduce the concurrent testimony in support of my 
assertion, I shall take but a momentary notice here of those disrespectful 
expressions with which you have decorated your pamphlet. Weakness 

• As a proof cf my having made this declaration, and the occasion of it^ I 
offer the following letter: 

Deaii Sill, — I have, at your request, charged my recollection with what fell 
from you, in the hearing of myself and several others, at the trial of Mr. Wilham 
Hamikon, on the subject of Mr. Reed, who assisted the prosecution ; it was in 
terms to this effect; thit it indicated the extremity of baseness in him, to attemj)t 
to destroy mother for taking the very step he had once lifted his own loot to 
take. This, at the instant, made a deeper impression on me. as havinsr never till 
then, though living in the closest intimacy, heard you drop the most distant hint 
of any intended defection of Mr. Keed, of which 1 myself had no suspicion. 

Jllnrch 2rtf, 17S3. Your humble servant, 

General Cadwalader. GEOKGE CLYMER. 



19 

of head, iis an accubation of a kind which it would equally puxidlc the (bol 
and ttie wiso to reply to ; but against that of badness of heart, my knoAii 
toiiur of condnct, in private and public life, iruist be my deJence ; if that 
fuild, it must be needless in me to set up any other. 

But if even prejudiced men should still doubt the truth of my assertion, 
with respect to the conversation aiUidod to, in the above representation, 
every doubt mu--^t be removed up(jn reading the lijllowing certiJicates. 

Hermitage, alh October^ 1782. 

Dear General, — In the winter of 1770, after vve hud crossed the Dela- 
ware, General Reed, in conversation with me, said that he, and several 
otliers ot'my friends, were surprised at seeing me there. I told him, I did 
not understn^ul siudi a conversation; that as I had engaged in the cause 
from principle, I was deteTuiined to share the fate of my country ; to 
which he made no reply, and the ciwversation ended. As 1 had the l>onor 
of commanding the nrilitia of New Jersey, both duty and inclination led 
me to use every exertion, in support-of a cause 1 had engaged in from tho 
purest motives. I wag really much surprised at General Heed's manner, 
considering the station he then acted in, and his reputation as u patriot ; 
but 1 consule^^'(i it as the effect of despondency, from the tlien gloomy 
prospect of our atiliirs. 

Tliis I mentioned to several of my friends at the time, who all viewed it 
in.the same point of light. I am, dear General, yours, 

General Cadwalade-r. P. DICKINSON. 

I do hereby certify, that in December, 1776, wliilc the militia lay at 
Bristol. General Reed, to the best of my recollection and belief, upon my 
inquiring the news, and what he thou2:ht of our afluirs in general, said that 
appearances were very gloomy and untiivorable ; that he was tearful or 
apprehensive the business was nearly settled, or the game almost up, or 
words to the same eO'ect. That these sentiments appeared to ine very ex- 
Iniordinary and dangerous, as 1 conceivefl they would, at thai lime, have 
a very bad tendency, if publicly known to be the senlnnents of General 
Reed, who then held an a()peintment in the army of the first consequence. 

Philaddpkia, March 12, 1763. JOILX NIXON. 

A few days before the battle of Trenton, on the 26th of December, 1776, 
I ro<le with Mr. Reed from Bristol to Head Quarters rtear New Town. 
In the courso of our ride, our conversation turned upon public afliiirs, when 
Mr. Reed expressed himself in the manner tbilowimr. 

He spoke u ith great respect of the bravery of thi^ British troops, and 
with great cor.tempt of the cowardice of the Am'^-ricaii, and more espe- 
cially of the New England troops. So great was the terror inspired by 
the British soldiers into the minds nf our men, that he said, when a Bri- 
tish soldier was brought as a prisoner to our camp, orir soldiers viewed 
him at a distance as a superior kind of being 

Upon my lamenting to him the supposed defection of Mr. Dickinson, 
who it was unjustly said, had deserted his country, he used the following 
words: "Damn him — f wish the devil had him, when he wrote the Fai^ 
rner's letters. He has began an oppo..ition to Great Britain \\ hich we 
have not strength to fmirli." 



20 

Upon my lamenting' that a gentleman, of his acquaintance, had sabmit- 
ted to the enemy, he said, " that he had acted properly, and that a man 
who had a family, did right to take that care of them." 

The whole of his conversation upon the subject of our affairs, indicated 
a great despair of the American cause. 

Upon my gomg to Baltimore, to take my seat in Congress, the latter 
end of January, I mentioned the above conversation to my brother. I 
likewise mentioned it to the Hon. John Adams, Esq., with whom 1 then 
lived in intimacy, a day or two after his return from Boston to Congress. 
I did not mention it with a view of injuring Mr. Reed, for I still respected 
him, especially as I then believed that the victory at 'I'renton liad restored 
the tone of his mind, and dissipated his fears, but to show Mr. Adams aa 
instance of a man possessing and exercising military spirit and activity, 
and yet deficient in political fortitude. To which I well remember Mr. 
Adams replied in the following woids : " The powers ot the human mind 
are combined together in an infinite variety of ways." 

Philadelphia, March 3, 1783. BENJAMIN RUSH. 

I went with Congress to Baltimore, in 1776. On the arrival of my bro- 
ther there, a few weeks afterwards, I called to see him. To the best of 
my recollection, Mr. Clerk and Dr. Witherspoon, delegates from New 
Jersey, were in the room with him. The two former, after some time 
withdrew, and my brother then mentioned the conversation as related by 
him above. He informed me, also, of some other conversation that passed 
between Mr. Reed and him, which is not necessary at present to repeat. 

Philadelphia, March 3, 1753. JACOB RUSH. 

Joseph Ellis, a Colonel of Militia, in the County of Gloucester, and state 
of New Jersey, doth hereby certify, that upon the retreat of a body of mi- 
litia from before Count Donop, in the neighborhood of Mount Holly, in Bur- 
lington County, in the month of December, 1776, he met with Charles 
Pettit, Esq., then Secretary of the said State : that a conversation en- 
sued between them respecting the siuation of the public dispute at that pe- 
riod ; that Mr. Pettit, in said conversation, representing that our affairs 
were despeiate, Col. Ellis endeavored to dissuade him from such an opin- 
ion, when Mr. Pettit replied, *' What hurts me more than all is, my bro- 
ther-in-lav;, Geneial Reed has, (or I believe he has,) given up the contest." 
That a good deal more passed between Mr. Pettit and Col. Ellis, during 
the said conversation, but omitted here, as being thought unnecessary. 

Woodbunj, March 9, 1783. JOSEPH ELLIS. 

I do certify, that I was present at the conversation alluded to above ; 
that although I cannot recollect the express words made use of in the said 
conversation, yet such conversation did take place, and that the substance 
of it answers to the certificate of Col. Ellis. 

Woodbury, March 9, 1763. FRANKLIN DAVENPORT. 

These are to certify, that in December, 1776 and January, 1777, I, the 
subscriber, was Major of the second battalion of Philadelphia Militia, 
whereof John Bayard was colonel, and then lay at Bristol, and part of 
the time opposite I'renton, on the Pennsylvania side. That while we lay 
at Bristol, Joseph Reed, V,>i(\. joined us; that during his being there and 



near Trenton, he often went out for intelligence, as Col. Bayard told nie, 
over to Burlington, in which place the enemy frequently were ; that being 
absent frequently all Hay and all night, 1 as Ircqiuntly inquired what 
could beconi" of Gen. Rerd. Col. Bayard olten an^v.'erld me. Ho feared 
he had left us, and jrone over to the enemy. One time in particular, beings 
absent two davs and two nights, if not tliree nights, Col. Biyard came to 
me with irreat concern, and said ho was fully persuaded (irn. Reed w.is 
gone to join the en'^my and make his peace. I asked him, how he could 
possibly think so, of a man who had taken so early a part, and had acted 
ffteadilv. \l>' replied, he was persuaded it was jo ; tor he knew the gene- 
ral thought it was all over, and that we could not stand ngain?t the ene- 
my ; and at the same time wept much. I endenvored ail 1 could to drive 
such notions from him, but he was so fully persuaded that he had left ns, 
and gone over to the enemy, that arguing about the matter was only loss 
of time ; Col. Bayard often making mention, that he knew his sentiments 
much better than I did. After being absent two or three nights. Gen. 
Kecd returned, and I never saw more joy expressed than was by Col. 
Bayard ; he declaring to me, that he was glad Gen. Reed was returned, 
for he was fully convinced in his own mind, that lie was gone over to the 
enemy. WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

Manor of Mor eland, Philadelphia Counly, March 15, 1783. 

Having been called on by General Cadwalader respecting a report which 
bus been propagated concerning Mr. Joseph Reed — I declare en my honor, 
the circumstances are as follows. In the spring of 1780, I obtained per- 
mission fur an interview with my brother at Elizabethtown. In the course 
of conversation, one day, he h.ippened to mention that there were men 
among us, who held the first otiices, who applied for protection from the 
British while they lay in .N'ew Jersey. 1 was alarmed at this assertion, and 
insisted on knowincr who they were ; — he said, that when the British army 
lay in Jersey, in 1776, Count Donop commanded at Bordenton ; that he 
wiis often at tiiat officr's quarters, and possessed some degree of his confi- 
dence ; that one day, nn rnhaltilant came into their lines, with an applicu' 
tionfrom Mr. Joseph Reed, Ike pirporl of which was, to know whether 
he could have protection for himsflf and his propery, (there was another 
person included in the application whose name it is not neccessary here 
to mention.) Tiie man was immediately ordered lor execution, but it wag 
prevented by the inter(K)sition of my brother and some other persons, who 
had formerly known him. Perhaps Mr. Reed and his friends may say, that 
Count Donop would not have ordered the man c.xecutf^d, had he not thought 
he came tor intelligence. No doubt that otiicer would have justified his con- 
duct, by put ting upon the footing of a spy, but why was another person included 
in the application, and one who was not looked on as a trifling character ; his 
name I will mention to any one who will apply to nie ; however, my bro- 
ther said, the man who was sent witli tlie application was a poor peasant, and 
the most unfit person in the world to send for intelligence ; this argument 
was what had weight with Count Donop, and which saved his life.* These 

• If the countrj-man was sent, au he insinuated, for intelligence, and not for a 
protection for Mr. Reed and bis friend, is it not vi>ry extraordinary, in a cuse oi' 
\h\^ n.itute, after ilu- man bid so narrow ly cs-rapcd with hts Hfr, tli,il no circtim- 



22 

cin;uiii*ii:tiice.-5 beiiiir uieutioned by a brother, ami which he declared to be 
true, naturally produced an alteration in my sentiments of Mr. Reed; for 
previous to this, there were few men of whom 1 entertained so high an 
opiniijn. (Jn my return to Philadelphia, I made no secret of what I heard ; 
indeed, I tlujught it my duty to mention it publicly, tlmt it might prevent 
tur'her power being put into the hands of a man who might make a bad 
use of it. The report circulated daily, and 1 was often called on to men- 
tion the circumstances, wiiich I always did, and winch I siioukl have done 
to Air. Reed, had he applied to nie. I remember, among ttie number vvho 
came to me, was Major Thomas xMoore, vvho said he intended to inlorm Mr. 
Riied, but whether he did or not, I cannot pretend to say. 

There is another thing I wish to mention. My biollier came into the 
river in a flag of truce, on special application of our commissary of prison- 
ers, to take a number of prisoners who were exchanged, to save us the ex- 
pen.se and trouble of sendhig them by land ; this was in the month of May, 
17S1. He was detaiiied, about nine miles below the city, upwards of four 
weeks, and never permitted to visit it. although application was made tor 
that piu'pose, by several captains of vessels, wlio had been prisoners, and to 
whom he had rendered civilities. I declined making application myself, 
as I supposed my being in the service from the cotnmeuceinent of the war, 
and having endured a figorous confinement for eighteen months, in the 
worst of times, to have been sutKcient to have obtained permission for a 
brother to have been in my house, in preference to a cabin in a small ves- 
sel in a river; — however, 1 endeavoured to make his situation as agreea- 
ble as possible, by visiting him often, and by taking my friends with me. 
I REMEMBER Col. Fraucis Nicliols went vv;tli me, one day, to whom my 
brother mentioned Mr. Reed's intended desertion, and who, 1 doubt not, 
will acknowledge it, on any person's applying to him : he is at present in 
Virginia, but is expected in town in a tew days. DAVID LKNNOX. 

Having been called upon, by General Cadwalader, to certify, so far as 
my knowledge extends, as to the matter hereinaiter mentioned, I do de- 
clare, that in the spring of the year 1781, I went with Major Lenno.v, of 
this city, on board of a ting of truce vessel, then lying in tlie river Dela- 
ware, where she had arrived from New York, and heard l\lr. Robert Len- 
nox, deputy commissary of prisoners unaer the British king, say, that in 
the year of 1776, a person had arrived at Count Donop's quartens, near 
Bordentown, in New Jersey, who told the Count, that he had been sent to 

stance rdatinc to so delicate an alVuir, (transacted in so private a manner) shouLl 
ever have come to my knowledge, till I heard this testimony Irom Major Lennox ] 
I will venture to say, that no otTicer of tlie army, at tbat critical period, would 
have risked his reputation, though he had afiorded no cau-e to suspect his fiim- 
ness, by instructing a i^py to apply for a protection for him, with a view of gairi- 
mg intelligence, witlinut mentioning it to b.i.s commanding oflicer before the trans- 
action. T3nt in the instance before us, it is worthy notice, that in so critical a 
situation of public affairs, Mr. Rcci\, knowing how <)angerous such a plea as the 
messenger had used nught prove to his reputation, lit the hands of the enemy, 
stiould not have endeavored to obviate such a tale, by mentioning the circum- 
*?,oice5 to (be commandint; officer at Brtstol, who might have vouched for his 
jiuicieiKC, in cane Donop i^hauM attempt to injure him a1"t( rn;ods. 



23 

Viim liy Gen. Weed and anotlier person, whose tuimo I do not ilniik upcos- 
s:iry to mention, to procure a protection for thorn ; Ihul the ('ounl rtjl'iisi^d 
to crint thpin a protection in that niannrr, and was about to treat the per- 
son who h?!d applied to hiin as a spy, but was prevented by the entreaties 
ofth" said RoIxtI Lennox, and some other gentbmen. 

Pkilailelphia, lltk March, 1783. FRANCIS NICHOLS. 

Here, then, it fully appears, that the testimony contained in the above 
certificates, all poini to tiiesame object, and to the p;inie pcried mentioned 
by me, supportinir and confirming' each other. Thoy ]ikevvi.«e clearly 
])rove tiie whole proi^ress of your meditated detection ; they prove that you 
deceived me by those professions, by whicti I had been induced lo trust to 
your appearances of fidelity, as you absolutely made an application !i)r a 
protection to Count Donop, in which an intimate Iriend of yours was in- 
cluded. 

But what opinion must tiie v.orld Ibrm of your veracity, when you are 
detected in falsely assertiuL;-, that you had not mentioned such sentiments 
to your most intimate frien Is and relations. '• Is it not utterly incredible," 
you say, " that I should hold such connnunication or sentiment frun mv 
most intimate friends and relations, and make it lo a person with whom I 
had held no friendship for many years ; who had received me wirh cold- 
ness." Mr. Peltit is your relation, and Col. Hayard your most intimate 
friend, with whom, at that time, you had the freest intercourse. To these 
you communicated your sentiments, as appears by the certificates of Co!. 
Bradford, Col Ellis, and Mr. Davenport; liut your friend, hinted at in 
Major Lennox's certificate, had consented to accompany you in your in- 
tended de.-ertion 'J'hc heiu;l)t of your iniquity does not end here ; you en- 
deavoured, by your influence, to spread general disaffection, in order to 
lessen your share of the infamy, by riividino^ it among- mmiy. Had vou 
conllrred with men whose prmciples wer^ in every inslancc like your 
own, yon mi?ht have succeeded, as every person concerned might iiave 
carried ofl'his particular friend with hiin. 

If all the evidence which now appears against you, had been produced 
at that time, what would liave been your late, as you then, (being Adjv- 
tanl-Cicnrritl of the army,) was subject to the Continental articles of war ! 

In tiie 10th page you say, you can "truly declare, that the subject of 
the present slander was not known to you, till itsappcarance in the news- 

faper." Having mentioned it at the Coffee House, (as appears by Mr. 
'ryor's certificate,) in the presr nee of some of your friends, it was rea- 
sonable lo expect they would have informed you of it ; but it seems there 
IS some difference between private infovmr.ticn and u puldic charge mode 
in the papers. As a gentleman, there can, in my opinion, be no dilier- 
cnce ; as you say, in your letter of the 0th Sept. last, that this insinuation 
s<^ems to deserve some credit from a reference l3 me. You insinuate, that 
if you had heard it, you should have noticed it. To this, however, the 
world will give little credit, as you made no public or private inquiry re- 
specting the charge made in .Major Lennox's certificate, though he com- 
municated It to Major Thomas Moore, son of the late President, whose 
piTnusi-:on I have tor nsser.ing publicly, that he informed yon of what 
•»:.,- Lennox had related, t.'io very dny he heard it. 



24 

The rnaaeiit mentioned in Major Lenox's certificate, and m tlmt of Col. 
Nichols reach vastly beyond me ; here you absolutely apply for protection ; 
and it" one report d/nianded your notice, in reference to my autlioritiefs, 
why not another, more alarming to you, your notice in reference to Major 
Lenox ] 

But the consciousness of the communications made to confidential friends, 
and otiiprs, suggested the fear of (ither proofs. As long as it was only 
communicated by private information, you were willino' to submit to pri- 
vate censure. But when a charge, which originated from me, was made 
in the papers, it reduce] you to the disagreeable alternative of a tacit con- 
fession, or the hazard of public proof. And in the present instance, if I am 
rightly informed, you was perfectly disposed to treat the publication signed 
Brutus, with that "silent contempt," which, you say, you have fora'^longf 
time observed, with respect to the anonymous abuse which disgraces our 
pu die papers;" but your friends, feeling the weight of the charge, goaded 
ynu into .so unfortunate a measure. " Unhappy man! against zchose 
peace and hap/.i less all are combined.^^ 

What answer can you make to the weight of testimony here produced 
against you ! I see nothmg ieit, but to declare to the world, that the whole 
is a wicked combination to destroy you; you may say, "you thought me 
entitled to the whole in.'ixmy of the insinuation," till the above mentioned 
witnesses "consented to divide it with me;" and tliat, " if you did not 
sufficiently measure the malignancy of their dispositions, or thouirht more 
favorably of them than you ought to have done, you are content to ac- 
knowledge your error, and do full justice in this respect hereafter;" and 
if any person siiould ask you, would all these gentlemen hazard such as- 
sertions without foundation? you may answer, "it is difficult to resolve 
what men of ungovernable passions will or will not say, when their minds 
are inflamed by party, and their breasts burning with disappointed ambi- 
tion ;" may they not have "mistaken a conversation with some other per- 
son, or at this distance of time, converted some jocilar exirfssion into 
such suspicions as they have mentioned ;" and you may add, "the mtmo- 
RiKs of MK.N may fail ; their minds are sul;ject to the warp of prejudice 
and passion ; they may convert into serious import what was dropped in 
jest; and, from false pride, persist in what they have said, beciaise they 
have said it, even against the conviction of their own consciences." 

In your letter of the 23d of September last, y u say, " you have declared 
the insinuations in Oswald's paper of the 7th inst. false; and you apply 
tfie same epithet to my avowal of them." This assertion has "been tully 
refuted by the concurrent testimony of your intimate friends and others. 
In your friends, you thought yourself perfectly secure ; but the weakness 
of two of them has betrayed you, and the third is proved your accomplice. 

It would, indeed, have appeared somewhat extraordinary, if you had not 
discovered your intentions to some of your intimate friends and relations; 
and that " no circumstance should occur to correspond with this imputa- 
tion," a'ter having communicated the same to me. Nor are proofs want- 
ing, if they were here necessary, independently of those I have already 
adduced, with respect to some of your friends, who at that time held con- 
siderable Bommands in the militia. 

And "thoa^-h specially sent by G(?neral Washington," as vou sav, " for 



25 

the express purposa of assisting rue," it may not he here improper to make 
a short observation, in which 1 conceive I shall be perfectly justifiable. 
Though the duties of an Adjutant General would naturally confine you to 
the Continental army, yet I can easily conceive, that there was no diffi- 
culty, by hints thrown out, or by the interposition of a friend, to induce the 
commander-in-chief to permit you to come to Bristol, under the pretence 
of assisting me; being, as you represent, well acquainted with the inha- 
bitants of Burlington, through whom you might oBtain information. But 
from the evidence which appears against you, it will not be thought un- 
charitable to conclude, that you conceived your plan could be better exe- 
cuted at Bristol, than under the eye of General Washington. Besides, 
you might reasonably hope to shake more easily the constancy of tmtried 
officers of militia, than those in the army, whose minds might be suj}- 
posed better fortified against such attacks. 

I am at a loss for words to express my indignation for the attempt you 
made on my integrity ; for though I did not see it in that point of view at 
the time, yet the whole testimony, as now collected, fully proves such to 
have been your intention ; and happy 1 conceive it to be for my own honor 
and the safety of my country, that you found in me that strength of mind, 
which you might not have experienced in some of your particular friends, 
had they been in my situation. 

The circumstance relating to the letter you wrote Count Donop, cre- 
ated at the time no suspicions; nor do I recollect any publication which 
alludes to it. This affair, and that mentioned by Major Lennox, are dis- 
tinct transactions ; but is it not more than probable, that at the interview 
you prop'^sed under cover of serving the inhabitants of Burlington, you in- 
tended to confer with Count Donop upon the subject of your own interest 
and personal safety. This suspicion, in my opinion, is perfectly warranted 
by the indubitable proofs of your intended desertion. Another circum- 
stance relating to this affair was equally unusual and improper. Mr. 
Daniel Ellis,* by whom you sent the letter with a flag, was universally 
known to be disaffected ; having been so long in the service you could not 
be ignorant of those obvious reasons, which prove the propriety of sending 
men wiih flags, whose attachment to the cause is well known, and men 
of observation. 

Every page, almost, of your publication is full of reflections against me, 
and almost upon every subject ; so intent have you been to injure my re- 
putation. The errors I committed during my command may serve a double 
purpose ; because he who committed them is su! ject to censure, and he 
who points them out claims the merit of the discovery. That I committed 
errors, I readily admit; rny friends have marked some, and subsequent ex- 
perience discovered others; but I am conscious they proceeded from want 
of experience, not a want of integrity. Why, then, need I seek to justify 
myself, when, from the nature of the war, considerable commands were, 
from necessity, entrusted to young officers, there being few amongst us to 
whom the profession was not entirely new. But, I confess, it would give 
me infinite pain, if, by "a strange inattention of mine to tlie tide and stale 

* I have ample proofs of Mr. Ellis's attachment to the enemy, which may be 
produced, if necessary. 

4 



26 

of the nver,*' and Ihe not arriving " one hour" sooner at Dunk's P'erry, 
we had lost the opportunity of striking- a blow at Mount Holly, of equal 
glory with that at Trenton. When you insinuated, in the former part of 
your address, a superior knowledge in military matters, by saying you had 
more " experience," 1 gave up the point, and left you the happiness of 
thinking so; for why should I have contended a point with a man who, 
throuohout his pamphlet, assumes to himself the merit of all those bril- 
liant successes, so highly commended even by our enemies, and which 
deti-rmined the fate of American independence. And it 1 was sensible 
that the charge you now make was true, or could be thought so, by com- 
petent judges, I would scorn to def 'ud my error. 

My orders were, to make the attack one hour before day, and to effect 
a surprise, if possible. The impropriety, therefore, of sending the boats 
from Bristol to Dunk's Ferry, and marching the troops from tlie same 
place in open day, is evident, as such a movement must have been ob- 
served, and communicated to the enemy. And now, tell me the instance, 
where even continental troops have arrived at the point of attack at the 
given time ? It was General Washington's mtontion to have made his 
attack on Trenton before day ; yet, from unavoidable delays, he did not 
arrive there till after eight o'clock in the morning. We reached Dunk's 
Ferry a little before low water, and can any person believe, that if we had 
arrived '-one hour sooner,'' we could have passed over near twenty-live 
bundrtd men, four pieces of cannon, ammunition wagons and horses, and 
all the horses belonging to officers, in that time, in the night too, and the 
river lull of ice, with only five large batteaus and two or three scows ; 
when it took us at least six hours, (a day or two afterwards,) to cross 
above Bristol, in open day and the river almost clear of ice. Strange *' in- 
attention," unhappy commander! That "« tingle hour, which we might 
have enjoyed wii,h equal convenience and equal risk," should be the only 
obstacle to a scene of equal glory with thai of Trenton, and yet you have 
represented to General Washington, as appears by his letter,* dated six 
o'clock, P. M. 25th December, 1776, to me, bein<( the very same night, 
and l)efore we marched to Dunk's Ferry, that you gave him the most dis- 
couraging accounts of what might be expected from our operations below. 
What, then, were those discouraging accounts ? Why was I not acquainted 
with them T or were they thrown out to influence him from making his 
attempt on Trenton, by representing that no co-operation from our quarter 
could favor his enterprise ? In the General's opinion, it is plain, it had that 
tendency. But in the heedless fury of this stroke at me, you have incau- 
tiously unguarded your most tender part. 

Anxious to fill up the part of this glorious plan assigned to us," you 
" over, you say, with your horse, to see and judge for yourself." 



• M'Kenkey's Ferry, 15ih December, 1776, 6 o'clock, P. M. 
Dear Sir, — Notwithstanding the discouraging accounts I have received from 
Col- Reed, of what mie;ht be expected from the operations below, I am determined, 
«B the niBht is favorable, to cross the river, and make the attack on Trenton in 
Ihe morning. If you can do nothing real, at least create as great a diversion as 
pOBsible, I am, sir, vour most obedient servant, 

GEO. WASHINGTON. 



27 

You did bo. " Having seen the last man re-embarked, you proceeded be- 
fore day to Burlington." Here permit nie to correct you, because there 
is no circunii^tance belter a'rcertained, than that many of the men were 
not brouglit back till eight o'clock the next morning;. 

Your motives I'or going to Burlington that night, were then thought a 
mystery ; 'tis now no longer so ; and the " olhtr cirivmstances" that 
permitted you to join us agijn at Bristol, are now clearly accounted for. 
General Washington's success or defeat was, no doubt, to determine whe- 
tlior you were to remain a v:itizen of the United States of America, or to 
be a sliameful deserter of your country. 

You say, you v/cnt to Philadelphia, at my request, to confer with Gen. 
Putnam ; that you set out in the evening, (the 24th December,) and 
reached Philadelphia about miJnight ; but what credit, can you reasonably 
expect, will he given to your " detail of proceedings," in other particulars, 
when you find yourself detected in such gross contradictions in the follow- 
ing instance .' 

Ill tiie 17th page you say, "Upon conference with General Putnam, (at 
Philadelphia.) he represented the state of the militia, the general confu- 
sion which prevailed, his apprehensions of an insurrection in the city in 
his absence, and many other circumstances, in such strong terms," as con- 
vincert me, no assistance could be derived from him;" and yet, in your 
letter to me, dated Philadelphia, 25th December, 1776, 11 o'clock, 
you say ; " Gcner^il Putnam has determined to cross the river, with as 
many men as he can collect, which, he srys, will be about five hundred ; 
he is now mustering them, and endeavoring to get Proctor's company of 
artillery to go with them. I wait to know what success he meets with, 
and tlie pr< gress he makes ; but, at all events, 1 .shall he with you this 
aflerr.oon." 

Here tiie rcpres^entation stated in your pamplilet is conlrndicted by a 
letter in your own handwriting. Having forgot, perhaps, tliat you had 
written such a letter, your ingenuity furnished materials for a plausible 
narrative, suitable to your purposes; not suspecting that such proof could 
be adduced in opposition to it. 

Having returned to Bristol about daylight on the 26th December, with 
the greater part of the troops, I received an account, about 11 o'clock A.M. 
from a person just arrived from Trenton Ferry, that General Washington 
bad succeeded in his aitack. 1 immediately despatched a messenger with 
a line to General Ewing, for information, but all 1 could learn was, that 
the victory was ours. 

From ihe continuance of the min and wind, I concluded the ice must be 
destroyed in the course of the day, and inst;intly sent down to Dunk's 
Ferry for tlie Loats, This being an extraoidinary .«'Mvice, required olmen 
who had been oxpsed to the storm the whole nigiit, was, however, cheer- 
fully undertaken and e.xecuted. I then consulted Col. Hitchcock, who 
commanded the New England brigade, to know whether his trcfeps would 
willingly accompany us to New Jersey, as I had determined to cress the 
river in the morning, if practicable, to co-operate with General Washing* 
ton. He informed me, thHt his troops couid ilot march, unless they could, 
be supplied with shoes, stockings and breeches; upon which I instantly 
wrote tn the Council of Sife'y, and obtained sjven hundred pairs of each 



28 

of the above articles, which arrived about punrise on the morning of the 
27th Decomber. This second attempt being determined on, 1 went with 
several officers, in the afternoon of the 26th, to fix np(>n a proper place for 
crossing the river above Bristol, and the next morning before day viewed the 
Jersey Shore in a barge, for the same purpose. By your relation, one would 
imagine you had been the hfe and soul of this second movement across 
the Delaware, — as little privy to it as the emperor of JMorocco, — but it is 
no unusual thing for you to intercept the praise due to others of creditable 
actions. Instead of being present to confirm my proposed movements, by 
your advice, you remained at Burlington, "in a kind of concealment, till 
the weather and other circumstances permitted you to join us at Bris- 
tol," after all our resolutions were taken, and the most of cur arrange- 
ments made. In the tissue of your representation?, it is your purpose to 
insinuate my deficiency in military conduct in the subsequent transactions. 
Let my relation of it be heard ! 

We marched on the 27th, in the morning, and the ice being by this 
time chiefly destroyed, we met with little obstruction in passing. The 
last division of the troops being embarked, and then crossing, we received 
private information, that General Washington had recrossed the river, and 
returned to Newtown, in Pennsylvania, from whence he dates his letter, 
27th December, 1776, informing me of the particulars of the action at 
Trenton, and which was not received, contrnry to your assertion, till we 
had marched above a mile on our way to Burlington ; it was then read to 
the troops, who were halted fcr this purpose. We had, however, before 
given full credit to the first information of his having recrossed ; on which 
previous information I called together the field otTicers, to consult what 
was then best to be done. From this circumstarxe, Col. Hitchcock, and 
some others, proposed returning to Bristol. I instantly declared my de- 
termination against it, and recommended an attack upon Mount Holly, ns 
from the information we had of the 'orce at that post, we might easily 
carry it, and should then have a retreat open towards Philadelphia, if ne- 
cessary. You then, " as a middle course,'" advised our going to Burling- 
ton ; in which those who had at first proposed uur return, joined in opin- 
ion. This was the true cause of that h(sitation you rcmar!<ed with re- 
spect to me. Burlington was in a position, in my judgment, very danger- 
ous ; as in case we should be inve-tcd there, and tlie river impassable, we 
should be forced to submit at discretion, for want of provisions, or hazard 
an action against troops superior in discipline, and perhaps in number, if 
their whole tbrce was collected to that point. Having no other retreat 
open to us, but that over tlie river, it was eviilent this could not be effect- 
ed without the loss, at least, of those who might be ordered to cover the 
retreat. Having passed the river in open day, it was probable the enemy 
might be informed of it; and, in that case, the post at Mount Holly rein- 
forced. To determine whetlier we should take a position, unanimously ap- 
!)roved by the council, but which I thought extremely dannerous ; or ad- 
lere to my own plan, unsupported by a single voice, was certainly a ques- 
tion that required more than a momentary consideration, even for an 
officer, at this stage of the war. Being pressed for some resolution, as 
the cay was far spent, I waived my ov.n opinion, and acquiesced in the 
^terire of marching to Burlington; but it i? ridiculous to suppose, as you 



29 

say, that your brother's intelligonce of Count Dunop't, retreat, could have 
influonccd my acquiescence, for it did not arrive till after our resolutions 
were tuken, — and besides, was not credited; because, if it had reached 
lis before, and been credited, I should not have acquiesced in such desire ; 
if even aftor, I should naturally have taken another course, and pursiied 
the flying enemy, instead of yoin^r to Burlington, which was five miles in 
the rear. 

Late that night, I received certain information, that the enemy had eva- 
cuated all their posts in the neiiihboriiood, and immediately despatched a 
messenger to General Washington with tiie intelligence; in answer to 
which, I received his orders, very early next morning, to pursue and keep 
up the panic, and that he would cross at Trenton that day. From this 
circumstance, it appears that the General had taken his determination 
before your pretended information or advice from Trenton could have 
reached him. 

In justification of myself, I have thought it necessary to point out your 
false state of tacts, in these particulars ; the multitude of lesser ones, re- 
lating to military matters, 1 shall pass over, as this publication is already 
necessarily lengthened beyond my first intention. 

As I hinted, in my letter of 10th September last, that "charges of the 
same nature had been, some time since, made against you," by Arnold ; 
you say, you "allow full weight to so respectable a connexion and testi- 
mony ;" to which you made no reply, though from the rank and character 
of Arnold at that time, they merited your notice. Arrtold having received 
his information from me, it cannot be concluded, that 1 meant by his testi- 
mony to strengthen my own assertion ; but merely to show, that having 
before been charged, you did not r<^ply ; from which many believed it 
true. And when he upolofrizfd to me lor inserting it in his defence with- 
out my permission, I remarked, that an apology was unnecessary^ from 
the public manner in which 1 had mentioned it. 

Arnold was commanding officer in this city, very generally visited by 
officers of the army, citizens and strangers. I received the usual civilities 
from him, and returned them ; and often met him at the tables of gentle- 
men in the city. To my civilities, at that time, I thought him entitled, 
from the signal services he had rendered his country ; services infinitely 
superior to those you so much boast of; he stood high, as a military cha- 
racter, even in P' ranee, and after your prosecution, he was continued in 
command by Congress; appointed first, by the commander-in-chief, to the 
commnnd of the left wing of the army, and afterwards to that important 
post of West I'oint, where his treacherous conduct exceeded, I fancy, even 
your own idea of his baseness. To what, tiien, do your insinuations 
amount ! They cannot criminate me, without an implied censure on 
Congress and the commander-in-cliief. But why contaminate my nnme, 
by connecting it, in his instance, with such a wretch ? when you, vourself, 
«t his trial, with a half-shamed face, seemed to apologize for being his pro- 
secutor, and became his fulsome panegyrist. It consisted, however, with 
thnt artifice and cunning which has ever been the simi of your abilities, 
and the whole amount of your tciftdo7n. 

Your remarks on my letter of the lOfh I.>prembrr, 1777. »rr so incon- 
<^i iinf. f'l.?: 1 -hall hci-to^v ;i '">; .i.-crvutionK on them. " >So strong and 



30 

viiLtlent," you say, " was my antipathy to the constitution, and such my 
enmity to those who administered it, that you believe I would have pre- 
ferred amj government to that of Pennsylvania, if my person and properiij 
would have been equally secure;" and yet it seems, in the next sentence 
3'ou say, " but it was our lot to meet again, a few days before the battle 
of Monnioutli ; here we were again united in covjidence and dungery 
If you really thought I would prefer amj government to that of Pennsyl- 
vania, why did you then take so much pains to show, that we again united 
in " coiijldence und danger,''^ at the battle of Monmouth, so many months 
after I had discovered that virulent antipathy, and which now hath ex- 
torted such gross reflections ? 

You say, my breast was burning with disappointed ambition ; but how 
does this appear, when,' immediately upon the formation of the new go- 
vernment, I was appointed the first of three brigadiers, which createu me 
commanding officer of the militia. Could my ambition be gratified fur- 
ther ? But to obviate every objection, let me suppose you meant, that I 
wished to rise to power in the civil line, — which, however, has never been 
insinuated before, — let me here call to your memory, how easy the task 
was for any character to rise to the first offices of government. I confess, 
I do not think so meanly of myself, as to have dreaded any rivalship from 
some of the candidates of those diiys ; nor do I mean, by this declaration, 
to insinuate any extraordinary merit, when I estimate mine by tiiat of 
those I have alluded to. 1 could not have consented to make the sacri- 
fices required ; but you, however, and some others, as much opposed to 
the essential parts of the constitution as I was, freely made them, and 
broke through every obligation of faith and honor. 

The charge you have brought against a party in the state, of an opposi- 
tion to its constitution, deserves some attention. I will digress a little 
from my main subject to examine how far this charge is true, and, how tar 
the thing is in itself criminal. 

Government is generally so reverenced among men, that those who at- 
tempt to subvert any system of it whatever, have to contend against a 
very natural prejudice. But this prejudice can only be in degree with the 
antiquity of its establishment; for modern error, how high soever its au- 
thority, has but little claim to our veneration. This concession made, could 
it be expected that our novel constitution, liable at first blush to so many 
important objections, should not have its opponents ; but that in a moment 
it should be submitted to, as implicitly as if it had had the sanction of ages 1 
What circumstance was there, in the production of this whimsical ma- 
chine, that should silence, at once, all the remonstrances of reason and 
sense against it 1 Was it not worth a pause to examine, whether this coat, 
wove for ages, would fit us or our posterity before we put on ; or whether 
this gift of our convention would not prove our destruction 1 From an ap- 
prehension that it would, an opposition was formed, that included a mnjo- 
rity of the state. Did those who composed it, think it criminal to prevent 
the singular ideas of a convention, from being carried into execution, 
against an almost genera! sentiment; or did they not rather conceive it 
safer and better for the community, still to go on in the administration of 
envernmental affair.-, by those temporary e.xpedicnts we had been in the 
habits ot", until their constitution could bs revised 7 



31 

This idea, patriotic as it was, was defeated Ly tlie oLsljHate eiitlmsinsirt 
of some, who trembled for tliis New Jerusalem of their hopes, and by the 
scandalous desertion of others, and especially yourself. The ends of op- 
position bi'iny thus rendered unattainable, but at the hazard of convulsions, 
that might endanger the great American cause, the same virtue that be- 
gan it, ended it, and it has long since ceascid to act. 

This is a well-known stale of facts ; but what it did not suit with your 
own by-purposcs to admit, could not be expected !r<im your integrity ; you 
have, iherelbre, constantly kept up the alarm of a constitutional opjjosition, 
and, on every occasion, referred to this false cause, that honest and useful 
opposition which was created by your weak, though violent and tyrannical 
administration. 

That you was called to the chair of governmeni, by the unanimous vote 
of council and assembly, you have otlen boasted, with a view of conveying 
to the world an idea, that even tiie gentlemen opposed to tlie (ronstitution 
approved the choice. But they neither esteemed you as a gentleman, nor 
approved your public conduct. Ttiey knew there was a majority in assem- 
bly in favor of your election, and as their grand object was the obiaining 
a resolation of that body, recommending the calling a convention for revis- 
ing the constitution, some of the party entered into an enofageiiient lor this 
purpose, and your election was negotiated. You were to use your en- 
deavours to prevail on the Counc 1 to entbrce the recommendation of the 
assembly, by a similar resolution From your own acknowledgment at 
the City Tavern, the resolution of the Council was never obtained, or even 
moved for, by j'ou, and tor this flimsy reason, that no formal information, 
of such resolution having passed, had been communicated to you ; though 
known to all the world; and that it could not be expected that Council 
would " tag" after the assembly, in a measure relating to the public. Vet 
you had the eflrontery to assert, that " every engagement on your part," 
was strictly perlbrmed. 

At this meeting, you say, you " in the most open manner called upon 
us, to support our imputations, and that you so effectually vindicated every 
part of your conduct, that every gentleman, (myself excepted,) acknow- 
ledged his mistake." I own I made no concessions, and if the reasons 1 
then gave are not thought a sufficient justification to the world, of the 
■opinion I had formed, I am content to admit that it was not only "singu- 
lar," but *' absurd." 

After a reasonable pause,! remarked, that from the repeated conversations 
I had had with you, on this sul'ject, you appeared to me as much opposed 
as I was, to the constitution, betiire the evacuation of the city ; that you 
had refused to accept the appointment of Chief Justice, (becau.se you could 
not in conscience take the oath ;*) that a short time before the election, in 

• The follfiwing extracts from General Reed's letter to his Excellency the 
President, and the Honornbic the Excrutive Counril of the Htate of Pennsylvania, 
dated Philadelphia, 2'2d July, 1777, a<isiRniiicf his reasons for not accepting the 
office of Chief Justice, may cerve to prove his njiinions ot the constitution at that 
time. " If there is any radical weakness of authority proceeding from the Con- 
Btitulion ; if in any respects it oppcses the geniitf, temper or habits of the go- 
Turned, f ffar, f/nlrnf a -'•'nr'tfij ran he proviflffl, in tens than seven years, ^o- 



32 

1778, you engaged yourself to ihe constitutional party, to serve in Council' 
lor the County, and to the party in the opposition, to serve in Assembly for 

vernment luill sink in a f-piritless Icniguor, or expire in a sudden convulsiots. 
It would be foreign to my present purpose to suggest any of tliose alterations, 
which, in my apprehension, are necessary to enable the constitution to support itself 
"with dignity and efficiency, and its friends with security. That some arejieces- 
tary I cannot entertain the least doubt. With this sentiment, I feel an insupe- 
rable difficiilty to enter into an engagement of the most solemn nature, leading 
to the support and conjirmation of an entire system of government, which I can- 
not wholly approve." Again, " the dispensation from this engagement,* first 
allowed to several members of the Assembly, and afterwards to the militia offi- 
cers, has added to my difficulties, as I cannot reconcile it to my ideas of propriety, 
the members of the same state being under different obligations to support and 
enforce its authority." Bui he adds, " If the sense of the people, who have the 
right of decision, leads to some alterations, I firmly believe it will conduce to our 
happiness and security ; if otherwise, I shall esteem it my duty, not only to ac- 
quiesce, but to support, as far as lays in my power, a form of government con- 
firmed and sanctified by the voice of the people.' Here, then, he says, " he feels 
an insuperable difficulty to enter into an engagement of the most solemn nature, 
leading to the support and confirmation of an entire system of government, which 
he cannot wholly approve ; but he shall think it his duty to acquiesce, and sup- 
port the governinent, — if confirmed and sanctified by the voice of the people." 
How inconsistent, then, must his conduct appear, when it is notorious, that he 
took a decided part in support of government, accepted cf his seat in Council, and 
afterwards th'3 Presidency, long before the sense of the people wa- expressed by 
the fabricated instrtictions to the members of Assembly, requiring them to rescind 
the resolution for cAllmg a convention for tlie purpose of levising the constitution. 
And yet he says, in the 27th page of his pamphlet, he " so effectually vindicnted 
every part of his conduct, that every gentleman present, (myself excepted,) ac- 
knowledged his mistake." 

These were the ostensible reasons for not accepting the Chief Justiceship, and 
taking the oath of office ; but an oath of another kind, no doubt, induced him to 
decline this appointment. He had not taken the oath of allegiance which the 
law, (passed the 13th June, 1777,) requited of every male white inhabitant; nor 
did he take it, (as appears by the publication signed Sidney, in the Pennsylvania 
Journal, No. 1565, 12th February, 1783,) till the 9th ot October, 1778, which 
which was the very day he was elected a Councillor for the County of PhdaJel- 
phia. And though disfranchised of all the rights of citizenship, and incapable of 
being elected into, or serving in any office, place, or trust, in this commonwealth, 
Mr. Reed daied to disregard the voice of the people, and violate the law, by ac- 
cepting the Presidency, and exercising the powers of government annexed to that 
office. If he had taki n the oath of allegiance, agreeable to law, why did he take 
it again, on the day he was elected a councillor 1 as the mere oath of oflice only, 
upon that occasion, would have been required of him. 

As Mr. Reed has not touched this point in his pamphlet, or furnished his 
friends with a single argument to defend him, against a charge supported by au- 

* By the " dispensation from this eni^agement" above mentioned, is meant, 
that the oath prescribed by the constitution -was dispensed ivith, and many mem- 
bers of ^issembly -were permitted to take another oath, in -which thetj -were not 
bound to support the constitution. 



33 

tlie City ; and beinar chosen in both instances, you hesitated above six weeks, 
(thoiigli often pressed to a resolution,) before you determined to accept 
your seat in Council ; — deprivino: during this time, the City of a vote in 
Assembly, wliile an important point was dcbateil concerninij the contested 
Ciiestcr election ; and voluntarily advocating the (juestion in favor of the 
ronstitutional party; that on the tiite of this trial depended your hopes of 
succeetlint,'- to tiie ['resident's chair ; that a determination in favor of that 
jwrty jrave them a decided majority, and that you instantly accepted your 
^eat in council. — To which you replied, and in recapitulatinfr my argu- 
ments, endeavoured to justify your conduct ; but conscious of having failed 
in tlie capita] points, you <;losed your remarks with some warm expressions, 
which conveyed the idea of a tlir?at ; of which I desired an explanation. 
After working up your passions to a degree little short of frenzy, you cx- 
pressel yourself in the tbllowing terms : I mean this, — " If the publications 
traducing my public and private character are continued. I mean to apply 
to the law ; but if this will not do nie that justice, which in some instances 
it cannot do, — I know I have the affections and command of the fighting 
men of this state ; and if necessary, I v.-ill make use of that influence, and 
call fbrlh that force, — and if bloodshed should be the consequence be it on 
your own heads." 

Such violent and unwarrantable expressions from the first magistrate of 
the stale, and in the presence of the whole bench of justices, created the 
highest indignation, and were severely reprobated by several gentleman 
present; which induced you afterwards to endeavour to soften your expree- 
sions and meaning. 

But if it was singular or absurd, " to expect a President of the State to 
enter into the violence of jwrty on my side of the question," let me oppose 
to this, the treuchenj of your conduct in deserting the party to which you 
was at first from (" conscimlious'^ principles) attached, and yet, as Presi- 
dent, enter into all the violence of party on the other side of the question. 

Again, " upon our return to Philadelphia," you say, " I became the open 
and avowed patron of those who are distinguished by the appellation of 
tories ; and my decisive attachment to the British Army,* and their adhe- 
rents, " has marked every subsequent period of my life, too plainly to admit 

thrntic proofn from ]iul'iic records, the puMic have very justly pronounced him 
guilty. If certificates can be produced of bis oaths of abjuration and allegiance. 
acrceaMc to law, wliy have they not been jRiblished ] If he is not disfranchised 
r>f the rights of citizenship, why was his vote refused at the last election ] or is 
this one of the suiijecb* rcservetl for " /c/^ij/ I'Ttimination •'" and if so, why does 
he not suspend the public opinion by such information ! 

• Thnt this opinion was not enteitained by Congress, may reasonably be in- 
terred from the following letter: 

Philaddphid, llth Sf/itemler, 1778. 
'•Sin, — His excf Uency, General Washington, having recommended to Con- 
gress the appointment of a tiencral of horse, the house took that subject under 
oonsideralion the lOth instnnt. when you were unanimously elected Brigadier 
and commander of the cavalry in the service of the United States, 

" From the general view al>ove mentioned, you will perceive, sir, the earnest 
Alcsire of the house, that yon will accept a commission, and enter, as early as 
5 



34 

of doubt or denial." If you really entertained sucli sentiments, why did you, 
in the month of February, (after my marriag-e,) waiving the indignity oT- 
fered to you in not paying- the usual compliments of congratulation, upon 
your appointment, pay mc the first visit, and thereliy make advances to- 
wards a reconciliation'? Such a condescension, so contrary to the wswaZ 
forms, can scarcely be reconciled even to a cliaracter like yours. 

Men who acquire popularity by means disgraceful to a gentleman, dare 
not hazard a sentiment that is not approved by the party with which he is 
connected. I have, on all occasions, and in all companies, private and 
public, delivered freely my political opinions; nor has the dread of losing 
the little popularity I possessed in Pennsylvania, ever induced me to make 
a sacrifice of my honor, by adopting opinions or measures which I disap- 
proved, or thought injurious to my country. Esteeming it the highest 
honor to deserve the approbation of my fellow-citizens, 1 have ever been 
solicitous to obtam it. You and some others have industriously propagated 
reports lor the purpose of injuring my reputation ; but conscious that my 
political opinions and conduct will stand tlie test, upon the nicest scrutiny, 
and having never experienced any diminution of that esteem, respect and 
warmtii of friendship, which my fellow-citizens have ever shown towards 
me, a refutation of such calumny is utterly needless. 

From the whole of wliat I have here laid before the public, supported 
by the testimony of the most respectable witnesses, the Ibllowing conclu- 
sions may fairly be deduced : 

1, That the conversation alluded to, which I have asserted to have 
passed between us at Bristol, was mentioned by me in confidence to Col. 
Hamilton and some others of General Washington's family, in the year 
1777 ; and therefore could not have originated at the time you mention, 
or to gratify my resentment against you, as at that time, you acknowledge, 
no parties subsisted. 

2. It could not have been invented to gratify my resentment for the at- 

your convenience will admit of, upon the duties of the office ; and I llattermyself' 
with hopes of congratulating you in a few days upon this occasion. 

" I have the honor to be, wtth particular regard and esteem, sir, your most 
humble servant, HENRY LAURENS, 

The Hon. Brigadier-General Cadwalader. Piesident of Congress. 

But not wishing to have it suggested, that I entered into the service at so late 
;i period of the war for the sake of rank, as the French treaty had taken place, 
:ind I had conceived all offensive opentions at an end, I declined the appoint- 
ment in these terms. 

Maryland, \^th September, 1778. 

Sin, — I have the highest sense of the honor conferred upon me by Congress, 
in appointing me a Brigadier in the Continental service, with the command of 
the cavalry, more particularly as the voice of Congress was unanimous. 

I cannot consent to enter into the service at this time, as the war appears to 
mo to be near the clost . But should any misfortune give an unhappy turn to our 
affairs, I shall immediately .apply to Congress for a command in the army. 

I have the honor to be, with the greatest regard and esteem, your excellency's 
most obedient humble servant, JOHN CADWALADER. 

His Excellency Henry Laurens, Esq. President of Congress. 



35 

lempt yon mntle to evade the payment of Mr. Porter's order; because I 
did not make it public at tlie time, nor till several years afterwards, and 
you acknowledge, all that coolness was done away, and our former habits 
of friendship restored. 

As it appears, by Mr. Clymer's testimony, that I mentioned it publicly 
at Mr. Hamilton's trial, which was before yon were elected President of 
the state, it ought to be imputed to another cause than that which you 
Jiave as*:igncd. 

4. As it appears, from Mr. Fryer's testimony, t|iat I mentioned it at the 
Cotiee IJouse, in the hearing of some of your friends, we may reasonably 
conclude you were informed of it ; and this conclusion is strengthened by 
your passing over unnoticed, tlic information contained in Major Lennox's 
lostimony, which was related to you by Major Thomas xMoorc. 

5 It cannot appear improbable that you should have held this conversa- 
tfbn witii me, as your expressions to Gen. Dickinson, Col. Nixon, and 
Doctor Rush, convey sentiments equally injurious to your reputation as a 
patriot and Adjutant General of the army. 

6. As it fully appears, by the testimony of Col. Ellis and Mr. Davenport, 
and that of Col. Bradford, that you had communicated such sentiments to 
your brother-in-law, Mr. Pettit, and to Col. Bayard, contrary to your de- 
claration, we may with propriety assort, that yon have Ibrfeited tliat vera- 
city, which is essential to (ho character of a gentleman. 

Lastly, from the testimony of Major Lennox and Col. Nichols, it ap- 
pears that you absolutely applied to Count Donop for protection, and that 
a particular and intimate friend of yours was included in it ; and, there- 
lore, froiu this and the foregoing testimony, all pointing to the same object 
and to the same period, supporting and confirming each other, it cannot 
leave the least room to doul)t the truth of my assertion. 

In some instances, a man's general good conduct has had great weight 
to invalidate or weaken charges highly criminal; but unfortunately, yours 
can receive no aid from such circumstances. Dissimulation and cunning 
have for a time deceived the most discerning, but the snares you have 
laid for others will most probably accomplish your own destruction. 

Having long since known how to estimate your character, I hare not 
any where pretended, in this performance, to fix it at a higher value thali 
what it generally passes current tor; you have, since the term of your 
administration, repeatedly put yourself upon your country. Your name 
has been oflored to the people for a scat in the legislature ; to the legis- 
lature, for a seat in Congress; to Congress, for pests of Continental trust; 
but that name, its counterfeit gilding at length rubbed oft', and the native 
colour of tlie contexture exposed, has depreciated, like the Continental 
money, with such velocity, that though a few years ago worth a Presi- 
dent's chair, it would not, 7ioio, purchase a constable's staff'; nor is it mere 
highly rated in the sphere of polite life, than in the great theatre of the 
world ; for its unfortmiate owner stands alone, unnoticed in the midst of 
company, with full leisure to reflect on the sensible effects of the loss of 
reputition. 

My immediate purpose requires nothing further from me; but your ad- 
ministration, the theme of your own solitary praise, might not improperly 
have been touched upon, but that it is a field too extensive for me, and 



36 

that I have not asperity enoug-h in my nature to do justice to the subject, 
I will yet observe, upon some matters in your pamphlet, not in direct con- 
nexion with one or the other subject ; but Avhich are extremely demon- 
strative of a temper in the writer to wish evil to the community, after the 
power of doing it has ceased. 

You, who have ever been a rapacious lawyer, and have never omitted 
any means of amassing a fortune, have, with a truly consistent spirit, shown 
an implacable enmity to all those who are raised to a condition above want 
and dependence. And though you kick against the parallel drawn be- 
tween you and the Cataline of antiquity, you have in this point proved its 
exactness ; he haranguing in the circle of his conspirators, exasperates 
them against the opulent citizens of Rome ; you, in your pamphlet, labor 
to create invidious distinctions, would pervert the order of well regulated 
society, and make fortune's larger gifts, or even its moderate blessings, cri- 
terions of disqualification for public trust and honors in Pennsylvania ; and 
under a specious description of men, offer with your sicord to lead the indi- 
gent, the bankrupt, and the desperate, into all the authority of government. 
But in the shallowness of your understanding, you have mistaken the spirit 
of the times; it will not countenance or support a Cataline. 

You would also, no doubt, as may be inferred from your pamphlet, you, 
who are so deficient in morality, draw your sword in religious quarrels, to 
bring you once more mto play ; but 'tis to no purpose you would raise an 
alarm, as a very great and respectable part of your opponents consists of 
persons belonging to that society, of which you profess yourself to be a 
member ; and there is a general and commendable coolness and indiffer- 
ence for such quarrels, that will not easily take fire on your false and in- 
flammatory suggestions ; so that whatever you have catched at to raise you 
irom the earth, has broke in your hands and brought you again to the 
ground. 

JOHN CADWALADER. 



